The present invention relates to a technique of starting up an engine when receiving an RF signal instructing to start up the engine from a remote control terminal.
The present invention also relates to a remote starting device which automatically starts up an engine when receiving an engine starting signal wirelessly transmitted from a remote control terminal outside a vehicle.
There is a remote starting control technique of starting up an engine mounted on a vehicle by a user's operation of a remote control terminal in a remote place (hereinafter, referred to as “remote starting”) and warming up the engine until the user boards the vehicle. By using this technique, the engine has been warmed up when the user boards the vehicle in cold climates. Accordingly, the vehicle can be driven forward at once.
In a control device (hereinafter, referred to as “remote starting device”) starting up an engine mounted on a vehicle by such remote starting, the running of the engine is stopped when a user unlocks a door or when the user opens a door.
When the remote starting device does not stop the running of the engine but continues to run the engine, a third party who is not an authentic user may intrude into the vehicle and steal the vehicle until an authentic user arrives at the location of the vehicle from a remote place after remotely starting up the engine.
However, from the viewpoint of a user, since the engine at first remotely started up is stopped at the time of boarding the vehicle, the engine has to be started up again after boarding the vehicle, which is inconvenient.
In order to solve the inconvenience in using such a vehicle, JP-A-2009-255836 discloses a technique of a remote starting device continuing to run an engine of a vehicle after a user remotely starts up the engine, opens a door of the vehicle, and boards the vehicle.
Thereafter, when the user operates a key inserted into a key cylinder to turn on an ignition switch, the remote starting device can continue to run the engine without stopping the running of the engine.
On the other hand, when the user operates the key inserted into the key cylinder of the vehicle to turn off the ignition switch, the remote starting device has to stop the running of the engine in favor of the user's will.
The vehicle control system including the remote starting device includes power supply lines for supplying power to plural electronic controllers from a main battery.
In the power supply lines, an ignition switch used to supply or intercept the power of the main battery to the plural electronic controllers when the user operates the key inserted into the key cylinder of the vehicle to start up the engine and an ignition switch used to supply or intercept the power of the main battery to the plural electronic controllers at the time of remotely starting up the engine are connected in parallel.
When the user remotely starts up the engine and then operates the key inserted into the key cylinder to turn on the ignition switch and to turn off the ignition switch, the remote starting device has to stop the running of the engine. However, since two ignition switches are connected in parallel to each other in the power supply lines, it cannot be specified which ignition switch is turned off by the user's operation of the key only by detecting the electrical connection state of the power supply lines.
That is, the remote starting device cannot stop the running of the engine by specifying the ignition switch turned off by the user's operation of the key.
There is a vehicle mounted with a remote starting device starting an engine by operating a remote control terminal carried by a user outside the vehicle so as to warm up an engine or to air-condition a vehicle interior before driving the vehicle. The remote starting device starts up an engine in response to an engine starting signal wirelessly transmitted from the remote control terminal.
In order to prevent the theft of a vehicle when a third party enters a vehicle in which the engine has been started up by the use of the remote starting device, the remote starting device stops the engine when it detects boarding operations such as unlocking a vehicle door or opening a vehicle door.
Accordingly, an authentic user needs to insert a key into a key cylinder and to restart the engine by turning the key after boarding the vehicle.
JP-A-2009-255836 discloses a remote starting device including engine starting means for wirelessly receiving a starting instruction signal for instructing the start up of an engine of a vehicle and changing a control signal for starting up the engine to an ON state in response to the starting instruction signal and operation monitoring means for monitoring a given user operation carried out on the vehicle after the control signal is changed to the ON state. Here, the engine starting means keeps the control signal in the ON state until the user operation is ended after the control signal is changed to the ON state, and changes the control signal to an OFF state when a user operation of running the given part of the vehicle is carried out without using a portable key.
In the technique described in JP-A-2009-255836, it is possible to provide a vehicle which can prevent the theft of the vehicle by a third party while improving the convenience of the user operation, by entering a driving-enabled state without stopping the engine in a state where the engine is started up remotely.
In general, when a key is inserted into a key cylinder and the key is then turned, an accessory power switch connecting a battery to an accessory circuit is first turned on, an ignition switch connecting the battery to an ignition circuit is then turned on, and a starter switch connecting the battery to a starter circuit is turned on, whereby the engine is started up.
The remote starting device includes plural remote-starting switch circuits connecting the battery to various circuits in addition to switches such as the accessory power switch, the ignition switch, and the starter switch and starts up the engine by turning off the remote-starting switch circuits when receiving an engine starting signal wirelessly transmitted from the remote control terminal.
The remote starting device described in JP-A-2009-255836 includes an extra detector circuit that detects an operation position of the key inserted into the key cylinder in the state where the engine is remotely started up, and enters a driving-enabled state without stopping the engine in the state where the engine is remotely started up when detecting that the key is operated through the use of the detector circuit.
However, since the remote starting device disclosed in JP-A-2009-255836 enters a driving-enabled state without stopping the engine in the state where the engine is remotely started up, the detector circuit detecting that the key is operated and the ignition switch is turned on is necessary, thereby increasing the cost.